YouTube to remove misleading videos about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election

YouTube will remove content alleging fraud or errors changed the outcome of the U.S. presidential election starting today, according to a statement by the company.

The video-sharing platform said the move is due to yesterday’s safe harbor deadline for the U.S. presidential election, with enough states certifying their election results for the the president-elect.

YouTube will remove content uploaded from today onward.

“As always, news coverage and commentary on these issues can remain on our site if there’s sufficient education, documentary, scientific or artistic context,” reads the statement.

As an example, the company said they will remove videos claiming that a presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors.

The platform has removed over 8,000 channels and misleading election-related videos since September.

According to YouTube’s policies, users are not allowed to post content aiming to mislead voters about the time, place, means, or eligibility requirements for voting, or false claims that could materially discourage voting.

Tech giants, such as Facebook and Twitter, have also implemented measures to tackle election misinformation. Facebook said it would demote content on Facebook and Instagram, including debunked claims about voting, as well as limit the distribution of live videos that may relate to the election. Twitter introduced prompts to U.S. users “that preemptively address topics that are likely to be the subject of election misinformation.”

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